


Comic Papyrus is Shaped Like a Friend

by the_emerald_rose



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, comic papyrus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:19:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5347292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_emerald_rose/pseuds/the_emerald_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rather than two skeleton brothers, there's just... one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was inspired by the AU of "Comic Papyrus", a fusion of Sans and Papyrus. Tumblr user "moofrog" came up with the idea, and I'm really excited to do some work with the idea!
> 
> On hiatus. And by hiatus I mean I’m never finishing this.

The child breathed, "Wow. You're um... Tall."

The figure before them nodded wordlessly, its hand still extended.

The child looked down at its hand, then looked back up at the figure. They tentatively reached out and shook the hand. It was cold, like the rest of the the area around them, but it also felt... bony.

And that's when it happened.

FRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

The being before them doubled over, holding their sides and laughing. The child backed away, just a little bit alarmed. The being looked up and wiped a tear from their eyesocket. Yes, they were a skeleton. One hundred percent skeletal. The child felt just a bit queasy at the sight.

The skeletal being drew themselves back up to their full height and said, "Sorry, sorry. I know it's a bit cheesy, but it's my favorite gag in the world."

"Uh."

The skeleton was clad in a very comfortable looking hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of athletic shorts. They also wore a pair of boots, a set of gloves, and a dramatic looking cape. They laughed a bit more, then asked, "You're a human, right?" The child could only nod. "On the one hand, that's hilarious. On the other hand, I kiiiiind of want to capture you and bring you to Undyne, so I can be in the Royal Guard." They seemed to swell at the prospect. "So here's what I'm gonna do, just for you!" They gestured ahead of them, and said, "I've set up a series of japing and confounding puzzles, to thoroughly vex and jape you! And I'll capture you, and I'll be in the Royal Guard!"

The child raised their hand quietly and asked, "What if I make it past the puzzles?"

"Firstly, that's impossible. And even if it were, well... Undyne herself would capture you!"

"Oh. Okay..." The child looked ahead of them, to where the skeleton was pointing, then asked, "Is there like... a town somewhere? I'm kind of cold."

The skeleton beamed (though, the child presumed, they were always smiling because of the whole skeleton thing), then said, "Yeah, Snowdin's cold tends to chill people... to the bone!" They laughed briefly at their joke, then stopped abruptly and said, "That was terrible."

The child looked back towards the widening expanse of forest, and said, "I'm uhh... I'm going to get going now..."

The skeleton waved happily and said, "Travel safely!" And the child began to move towards the rest of the forest, and the skeleton called, "Wait, wait! I didn't even introduce myself, I got so excited!"

The child turned around, then said, "Uhh... well that's... I'm gonna go get... warm."

The skeleton posed dramatically and said, "I'm Comic Papyrus, but my friends call me CP. Very ICE to meet you!" They laughed again, then stopped and said, "That was also terrible."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Japes and hijinx with Comic Papyrus and the Human!

"Alright, Human!" CP said, standing triumphantly across what appeared to be a field of snow. "You may find this puzzle... QUITE SHOCKING!" They laughed a bit more, then stopped and said, "I don't know whether to be proud of that one or be ashamed."

The child's teeth chattered loudly. Clad in shorts and sneakers, they were not at all dressed for the weather.

"Oh, oh dear..." CP mumbled, saying, "I can't deliver a humancicle to Undyne! That just won't do at all!" They held up a hand and said, "Wait just here." They walked away, behind a tree, and emerged from... another tree. They had with them a striped puffy coat, to match the child's striped t-shirt, a pair of mittens, and a hat with the same pattern. "I'll bring these to you!" they said. They walked through the freshly fallen snow, through a particular path, and then bundled up the child. They pressed a mug of hot cocoa into their hands and said, "Here. This'll help, too!"

"T-t-t-t-thanks," the child chattered.

CP gently placed an orb on the child's head, and said, "Now, here's the puzzle!" They scurried back to the other side and said, "This field here is electrocuted! One wrong step, and you'll be left zapped into submission! And then I, Comic Papyrus, will deliver you to Undyne and become a member of the Royal Guard! Or. Something like that."

The child looked down at the cocoa, then downed it in one gulp. "Ooh, this is nice. What kind of cocoa is it?" they asked. "It's a bit... spicy."

"Spaghetti cocoa!"

The child's stomach squirmed at just the thought.

CP rubbed their hands together and said, "Whenever you're ready, tiny human!"

The child looked at the path in the snow, then followed it as best they could. Their shoes could easily fit into CP's bootprints, but CP's strides were far too long for their tiny legs. It was like playing the floor is lava, except the floor was snow and their tiny little legs were already far too cold.

Once the child made it to the other side, CP looked surprised. "Oh, gee... I um. I didn't think you'd make it this far."

The child handed CP the orb and the mug, and said, "The uhh... the cocoa was... good. Thank you."

"Oh, no problem!" CP beamed, then said, "I'll get the next one ready for you!" And they scampered off, further into the forest.

After more harrowing adventures with dogs, the child found themselves at another patch of snow, with CP standing on the other side. They looked just a little bit sadder than usual. CP said, "Alright, listen. You're blowing through that puzzle left me a little scrambling. I've got some other ones up ahead, but this one?" They gestured to the snow. "I can do better."

The child stepped forward, and picked up the sheet of paper on the ground. It was a word search. They looked up and asked, "CP, do you have a pen?"

"Oh, uh! Sure!" CP reached into their hoodie pocket and pulled out a black pen, then tossed it over to the child. "Have fun!"

The chlid sat down in the snow, and solved the word search. Except for one word. It wasn't anywhere on the sheet. They looked up and said, "This puzzle is impossible."

CP seemed offended. They rushed over and looked over the search, and said, "So it is." They took the paper and crumpled it up, tossing it into a recycling bin. They mused, "It was either this or the crossword. Or Junior Jumble." They turned to the child and asked, "Which would you think is harder? Junior Jumble or the crossword?"

The child looked over to the recycling bin, then handed CP their pen back and said, "I dunno, Junior Jumble? I'm no good at jumbling things."

"Neither am I!" CP said, a grin spreading across their bony face. "Right, on to the next one!" They scampered away.

The child came across a serene part of the forest, where a mouse lived. There was a note, a plate of frozen spaghetti, and a microwave.

"Dear Human," the note read, "I know how cold you are, so I made you this lovely spaghetti! I considered putting this here to keep you from progressing, but hey, this'll help warm you up! Deliciously yours, CP. P. S.: watch out for dogs! They love spaghetti!"

The child read the note over, and looked at the spaghetti. It looked okay enough, with a nice tomato sauce, but it also looked like the pasta hadn't been cooked at all. How on earth CP managed that was a feat in itself.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh, hello, Human!" CP beamed, getting up from where they had been leaning up against a tree.

The child waved. Dogs. So many dogs. Seeing a skeleton running around was somehow... comforting. They said, "How you been, CP?"

"Oh, you know." They looked at the snow ahead of them and said, "Threw together another puzzle for you."

The child looked. On the ground was a big switch, with a big blue X on it. There was a smaller switch, with nothing else on it. The child stepped on the smaller switch. It clicked, but did nothing.

"Hmm...." the child mused, "A real stumper of a puzzle, CP."

"I know, ain't it great?" They beamed. "See, you have to make the blue X into a red circle."

The child looked at the switch, and stepped one foot onto the switch. It changed to a bright red circle. Satisfied, the child stepped over the switch, but their stride was too short, and they stepped on it again. It turned to a bright green triangle.

"Oops."

CP cackled and said, "This puzzle does have you going in circles, doesn't it?" They laughed again, then stopped and said, "I hate everything." They took a deep breath and said, "You can step on the switch and reset everything. But once you have your red X, step on the switch, and those spikes over there will vanish." They pointed over to the spikes.

The child sighed, then stepped on the reset switch. They very gingerly placed a foot onto the blue X, and it turned into a red circle. They then very delicately removed their foot, and hopped onto the reset switch. The spikes on the other side of the field descended.

"Nice job!" CP said as they got off of the tree they were leaning on. "This next one's a doozy." They looked down at their fingernails as the child advanced.

In the next field, CP was already leaning against another tree, inspecting the fingers of their gloves. The child looked behind them, then back at CP, and began to speak, then stopped, then opened their mouth to speak again, considered their word choice, and finally said, "What the heck, CP."

CP looked up and said, "Oh, you're here. Wasn't expecting you so soon."

"How did--" The child gestured to CP, then back to where CP had been, then back to where CP was now. "What about--" they gestured to the snow, which was filled with only the small footprints of the child, not the oversized bootprints of the skeleton.

CP shrugged and said, "That's a puzzle for another time." They gestured to the mounds of snow in front of them and said, "This was supposed to look like my face, but uhh. I got lazy."

The child looked across at the line of blue X switches, and the snow keeping one from moving out of the line. They looked at CP, then back at the switches, and asked, "Was this like..."

"This was my fantastic jawline," CP said, gesturing to their well-defined jaw.

"It's a little... rounder than a straight line."

"Hey, artistic liberty," CP said with a grin.

The child sighed, then ran across the switches as fast as they could, setting them all to red circles. With a grin, they turned back to CP, who had watched the antics with a crooked smile on their bone face. The child slammed the switch, then asked, "Is there another one after this?"

CP shrugged. "Maybe."

The child advanced to a field of ice, with switches littered throughout the ice. CP was nowhere to be found.

The child's first attempt at solving the ice puzzle left them plummetting into the snow beneath whatever platform this was. There stood a half-constructed snowperson, meant to resemble Comic Papyrus. Or at least, that's what the assumption was. It was a very beautiful set of legs constructed from snow, showing off CP's tibia and fibula, as well as their boots and shorts. But the upper half had only been started, with a small lump of snow placed on top. Written in red marker was "cP", and under that was, "WIP".

Odd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there'll be adventure and funtimes soon, no worries.


	4. Chapter 4

"This... is my most dastardly and vicious puzzle ever!" CP posed triumphantly in front of a machine. "Mostly because it's not mine. Dr. Alphys designed it."

The child looked at the sea of tiles before them. "None of these are red or blue or green," the child said.

"Not yet, human!" CP gestured to the machine and said, "When I throw this switch, the puzzle will activate and the tiles here will change color. And each color has its own rules! You ready?"

The child nodded and said, "Bring it on."

"Alright, you asked for it!" CP cleared their throat and said, "Red tiles are impassable! You cannot walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric! You'll find them quite shocki--wait I already used that pun. Um. Gimme... urgh. Never mind. Green tiles are alarm tiles! If you step on one, you'll have to fight a monster."

"What monster?" the child asked.

CP posed and said, "Me, silly!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright." CP continued, "Orange tiles are orange scented. Not that you stink, but they'll make you smell DELICIOUS! Blue tiles are water tiles. Swim through, but if you smell like oranges, the piranhas will eat you! Fun facts about piranhas. They love oranges! Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, that blue tile will zap you, too! Quite shocki--wait gosh darn it I did it again." They collected themselves, then said, "Purple tiles are slippery! You'll slide to the next tile over. But the soap smells like lemons, and piranhas do not like lemons, so you'll be fine. Purple and blue are cool. And finally, the pink ones. They do... nothing! Step on them as much as you please."

The child processed the words, then asked, "Can I... can I get that in writing?"

"You want me to repeat it?"

"No, I want it written down."

"Oh, well that just kind of spoils it." CP reached into their pocket, and pulled out a sheet of paper. They set it down next to the machine and said, "Feel free to do this puzzle at your leisure. I'm uhh. I'm just gonna..." They slowly laid down on the ground. Then, they bolted upright and asked, "Oh, hey. Do you know how to deal with blue attacks?"

"Yeah. Don't move. The dogs showed me."

"Okay, cool." CP returned to their lying in the snow.

And out of sheer, morbid curiosity, knowing that they could go again, the child loaded.

"This... is my most dastardly and vicious puzzle ever!" CP posed triumphantly in front of a machine. "Mostly because it's not mine. Dr. Alphys designed it."

The child looked at the sea of tiles before them. "Alright, how does it work, CP?"

CP paused, then asked, "Do you ever get those weird moments of like deja vu?"

"Sometimes, yeah. Why?"

"I feel like I just explained this a few minutes ago."

"Well, I've never heard it before." The child grinned innocently.

CP furrowed their brow, then returned to the machine and said, "When I throw this switch, the puzzle will activate and the tiles here will change color. And each color has its own rules! You ready?"

The child nodded and said, "Bring it on."

"Alright, you asked for it!" CP cleared their throat and said, "Red tiles are impassable! You cannot walk on them. Yellow tiles are electric! You'll find them quite shocki--wait I already used that pun. Um. Gimme... urgh. Never mind. Green tiles are alarm tiles! If you step on one, you'll have to fight a monster." CP waited a beat, then said, "That monster is me. If you were curious."

"Oh. Okay." The child particularly didn't want to fight CP, but... something was off in the exchange. Even though the child had heard it before, it felt a little... off.

CP continued, "Orange tiles are orange scented. Not that you stink, but they'll make you smell DELICIOUS! Blue tiles are water tiles. Swim through, but if you smell like oranges, the piranhas will eat you! Fun facts about piranhas. They love oranges! Also, if a blue tile is next to a yellow tile, that blue tile will zap you, too! Quite shocki--wait gosh darn it I did it again." They collected themselves, then said, "Purple tiles are slippery! You'll slide to the next tile over. But the soap smells like lemons, and piranhas do not like lemons, so you'll be fine. Purple and blue are cool. And finally, the pink ones. They do... nothing! Step on them as much as you please."

"Alright," the child said, crossing their arms. "Bring it on."

"Alright, here we go!" CP reached for the lever and said, "Oh, by the way... this puzzle is completely random! You'll be getting something that I've never seen before!" They threw the switch.

The tiles flashed in a dizzying pattern, before... settling on a straight line of pink tiles, and a set of red tiles on either side, protecting the child from the sheer cliff.

CP stared at the walkway, then slowly sunk into the snow, saying, "Uuuuuugh, I knew a service that makes puzzles for you was too good to be true. Uuuuuugh."

The child began to advance, when CP jolted up and asked, "Oh, by the way, do you know how to deal with blue attacks?"

"Yeah, you just don't move, right? The dogs showed me."

"Okay, cool." CP plopped back into the snow and began to bemoan their fate.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> all of snowdin in literally five paragraphs or something like that

The bridge was quite harrowing. Suspended over a wide chasm, with rope slung on either side, the child definitely felt a sense of dread over them. It felt like if there was wind underground, the bridge would be quite rickety.

Aside from it feeling very definitively like stone under their feet.

On the other side stood CP, hands on their hips, posing dramatically.

"Human!" they called, "Sorry to say, but your adventure stops here!"

The child looked over the edge of the "bridge", and felt their stomach drop. They asked quietly, "You're not gonna push me over the edge, are you?"

CP looked taken aback. "What? No, no, goodness no." They laughed at the idea and said, "I've instead created quite the harrowing gauntlet for you to make your way through. And should you fail, I'll bring you directly to Undyne myself!"

"And if I succeed?"

They paused, then replied, "You'll get to see the lovely town of Snowdin! And uhh. Possibly fight me."

"Oh. Cool."

"You ready?"

"Bring on your gauntlet of horror!"

"Alright, you asked for it!" CP reached up, and from somewhere on the cave ceiling descended.... a singular white dog.

CP looked up, then back at the child, then back at the dog, and sighed deeply. They said, "You know what? Fine." They untied the dog, and said, "Sic 'em, boy! Go get!"

The dog bounded across the bridge, and into the child's waiting arms, tail going a mile a minute, tongue lolling out of its mouth. The child laughed and scooped the dog up, giving it the attention it desperately needed and wanted.

Meanwhile, CP was muttering to themselves about how they were so much more of a herbivore sort of person. Like a gerbil. Or a hamster. Not a bunny, though. That'd be weird. They eventually called out, "I'll be waiting, human!"

Snowdin was weirdly warm and cozy, for a town literally covered in snow. It was the first time that the child had seen a monster settlement that was actually populated. The ruins were far too echoey for their tastes, echoing years and years of silence constantly. Snowdin, though, was warm.

The townspeople were cheerful and excited, despite their predicament. A lot of them chirped about not losing hope, no matter what. That one day, they would see the sun. That made the child feel a little warm and fuzzy inside. And then they realized that the dog had burrowed under their shirt, and was very warm and very fuzzy against their chest.

One of the townspeople said, "We don't really have problems here, but if we do, a tall skeleton will go tell a fish lady about it. Thaaaaaaaaaaat's politics!"

Another person said, "We're not entirely sure where Comic Papyrus came from. One day, they just kind of... asserted themselves. Things here've been a lot more exciting since then!"

The local... restaurant? Bar? Who knows. At least the child didn't get carded. It was busy, at least, and a lot of the patrons talked positively about Comic Papyrus's antics. They apparently frequented Grilby's often, whether for the drink or the food was anyone's guess.

Of course, there was only so much to see in Snowdin. As the child began to leave to what they presumed was probably east or something, the fog got a lot thicker, and eventually through the haze emerged their favorite skeleton.

"Hello again, Human," CP greeted.

"Sup."

"How do you like Snowdin?"

"It's um. Snowy."

The dog scampered out of the child's shirt, and bolted away, off to some manner of antic. CP said, "Remember what I said, about how the next time we met, we'd be fighting?" The child nodded. "I know it's hard, meeting someone who really finally gets you. Another pasta enthusiast and a cool pal are all really cool things, but... sometimes, you just gotta..."

CP turned away and took a deep breath, saying, "I'm not gonna hold back, okay?"

The child nodded. They said, "Bring it on."


	6. Chapter 6

Comic Papyrus got into a ready stance, with their legs a little wider apart and their arms crossed over their chest. They stood in near silence, surrounded by the gentle rush of wind and the quiet murbling of the river next to them.

The child looked down and said, "You know, you are really cool."

"Thanks."

"Maybe we could... I dunno, hang out or something?"

"But I'm trying to capture you."

"Well I mean like. You can capture... my heart?"

"... I was just about to start smacking it with bones."

"I meant figuratively."

CP thought for a minute, then asked, "Are you... flirting with me?"

"Hey, it got me out of the ruins alive, right?" The child grinned.

CP sighed deeply and said, "Let's talk about this AFTER I capture you." They looked the child over and asked, "Aren't you gonna draw your weapon?"

The child pulled their hands out of their pockets, and weakly flapped a glove in their hand. They said, "I'm not gonna fight you with this, CP. I'm not gonna fight you at all."

CP grinned and said, "Then you'd best get ready for my blue attack!"

They unfurled their arms, and a wave of cyan bones poured across the field. The child stood stock still, as the bones passed through them without harm. They were chilly, like being struck with a particularly cold wind, but not painful in the slightest. They stung if you moved through them, though.

And then, suddenly, a weight fell over the child, and they dropped to the ground.

"What the--" they started, before they saw a white bone moving across the ground towards them. With great labor they managed to jump over.

CP grinned and said, "You're blue now. How's it feel?"

The child grumbled, then pulled themsleves up to their feet. Indeed, it felt like their very soul was being weighed down. Like their body just suddenly weighed a good forty pounds more than it did before, and they could feel it affecting their movement. They could move side to side as much as they could before, but they couldn't just fly around the supposed battlefield like before. They looked down, and their soul was no longer a vibrant red, but instead a deep blue.

The child said, "I really don't want to fight you, CP! I'm not that kind of person!"

CP seemed to consider the child's words, mulling something over. They finally said, "Tell you what. You survive this one attack, and I'll let you go. I gotta at least give Undyne the impression that I tried, you know?"

"... what do you mean, survive?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not gonna kill you. That's not my job." They winked and asked, "You ready?"

The child sighed and said, "Go for it."

CP crossed their arms and said, "Alright, here it comes!" They put a hand out, and... a single bone launched at the child. They managed to hop over it, despite the great weight that threatened them. CP said, "Okay, that was my special attack."

"... Really?"

"Yeah." The fog around them dissipated, and CP said, "Up ahead's Waterfall, which should be much warmer for you than here. Not too warm, but warm enough that you're not blue anymore."

"But you made me blue."

"You were already blue before I made you blue."

"... Oh. That's bad."

"I would think so." CP grinned and said, "If you keep going, you'll reach King Dreemur's castle, and I'm sure that with your awesome human soul, you'll be able to get yourself across the barrier and back home, if that's what you want." CP began to head back to town, then said, "Oh, if you stil lwant that date, meet me by Grillby's, okay?"

"Oh, uh... sure thing." The child watched as CP vanished back in the direction of Snowdin. For some reason, they were expecting... more out of the skeleton, but hey, an easy boss battle's an easy boss battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope that "forty" is not the new "anomaly".


	7. Chapter 7

CP was, indeed, standing outside of Grillby's, their stance relaxed. They greeted the human and said, "This is where I spend about half my time. The other half is at home."

"But you spent all day out in the wilds of Snowdin, hunting me down," the child replied.

"That's the third half." CP grinned and said, "C'mon, I'll treat you."

They walked in, and the entire establishment just lit up. Everyone knew CP. The guy drunk in the corner. The dogs, all of them. The guy who put out a line for a nice hot fish to date. Grillby himself, in his silent... fiery... way.

The child was not entirely sure how a creature survived, being entirely made of fire. They weren't about to question it.

CP settled themselves onto a bar stool and said, "Get comfy, kid."

The child climbed onto the stool, and was immediately met with a wonderous fart.

"Oh, watch out. Some jerk keeps putting whoopee cushions on the chairs."

The child rolled their eyes, then asked, "What's on the menu?"

"Well, Grillby does a really mean burger, but his fries are great, too."

"... is that it?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"What?"

"I dunno, you just... don't seem like the kind of guy who would... eat fast food. You know, with the spaghetti and everything."

CP shrugged. "Sometimes, you're just a bit too tired or lazy to cook for yourself. Besides, a diet entirely of spaghetti can't be healthy. Nor can eating nothing but fast food." They smiled. "It's all about balance."

The child thought to themselves for a moment, then said, "Fries sound great."

CP nodded, then said, "Hey, Grilbz, can we get a double order of fry?"

Grillby's flaming head nodded, and he vanished into the backroom.

CP said, "You know, you're a really cool kid."

"Thanks."

CP looked down at their hands and said, "Part of me feels really bad about just letting you go. The other part of me says, "ehhhhhhhhh." Undyne's real tough. She's not gonna take you on a date."

"She'll capture me?"

"Yup."

"And not my heart?"

"Nope."

Grillby returned with two plates of fries. CP reached for the ketchup and asked, "Want some?"

"Oh, sure."

As the child began to dip the ketchup bottle onto their fries, CP abruptly grabbed it and set it down, saying, "Never mind."

"Wh--"

"I unscrewed the top. It was gonna coat your fries."

"Oh. That's..."

"Mean. Yeah. I'm sorry." They smiled a bit and took a bite of a fry.

As the child began to dig in, they felt like everything else was falling away from them. That the chatter and clatter of the restaurant were distant, vague ambiance. There was nothing but them, their fries, and Comic Papyrus.

CP broke the awkward silence and asked, "Hey, kid, have you ever heard of... a talking flower?"

Immediately, the child felt a chill dance down their spine. They thought of nothing but that golden flower, and its voice, proclaiming that it was kill or be killed in this world, and nothing else. And how that flower had tried to kill them. And how the flower laughed at them for the dust that stained their hair and hands, and how the flower laughed more when the child reset, to try and save her.

They dropped their fry, and stared at the plate in front of them.

CP said quietly, "So you have. They're pretty nasty business."

The child couldn't quite imagine a world where there was more than one of that accursed flower. Apparently, this was that sort of world.

"Echo flowers."

"What?"

"Echo flowers," CP repeated, "They're pretty common in Waterfall. You whisper something to them, and they echo it until they hear something new."

"Oh..."

"One time, I told one, "Knock knock," and it repeated, "Knock knock," and the one next to it said, "Knock knock," and then I left. When I came back, they were just making weird murbling noises, like they were just repeating the same noise over and over and over." CP bit into a fry and said, "What I'm trying to say, I guess, is don't take what they say for face value, you know?"

The child smiled a little bit at that. "I guess that's fair enough."

"Yeah, I mean, they're plants. Plants shouldn't have the final say in our lives, right?"

Another chill slid up the child's spine. "Y-yeah. I uhh... I guess so."

"Great." CP picked up their fries and dumped them onto the child's plate and said, "Grillby, put this on my tab, please?"

Grillby nodded.

"Alright. I gotta get back to work. I'll see you around, okay, kid?" And with that, CP left the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Waterfall.

Waterfall was, indeed, much warmer than Snowdin had been. Of course, it was mostly the humidity, but it was still very nice compared to the cold, dry air of Snowdin.

Faced with a particularly tall patch of grass, the child looked for an alternative route. There... was none. The only path that lead ahead of them was one shrouded by a particularly fragrant, tall grass. They took a deep breath, and stepped forward into the grass.

Above them, they heard alarming clangs of metal boots on rock. They glanced upwards, still shrouded by the grass, and could see a figure illuminated partially by the light coming from Snowdin. Another shadow approached the figure and said, "Hello, Undyne." It was CP, and this... this must be the mythical Undyne.

A shiver ran up the child's spine.

The child could tell that Undyne was speaking, but the volume that she used, as well as the helmet, distorted the audio to the point that it was unintelligable.

"That's not my name," CP replied.

...

"Nothing you can say or do is going to change the past, so it's best we just move on to the situation at hand. The child is moving through Waterfall now."

...

"It was um... you know, I can't remember that right now."

...

"If I had to guess, it would be... a shirt. With at least one stripe. Maybe more."

The child looked down at their shirt, and its stripes. There was at least one stripe on it, indeed."

...

"I understand. I'll um... I'll be doing my thing."

CP turned around, and began to leave.

Another chill ran up the child's spine when they began to tread through the grass. Undyne hadn't left yet, and had spotted the movement. A brief glance upward revealed the dangerous magically conjured spear, pointed at the movement in the grass.

This is it. This is how they're going to die. Being skewered by some armored knight abo--oh wait they're leaving. Okay. The child was not going to question this good fortune.


End file.
